Relaxing on Koh Yao

 

After only a two night stay in Phuket with Bobby and Chaz, it was time to get to a quieter local.  They wanted to see a few busy places, but also wanted to have time to relax and wind down.  Teaching can wear you out, especially when you only have a few weeks vacation during the course of the year.  As it stood they were glad with even two weeks away from the winter in Seoul!

From Phuket we took a ferry to Koh Yao Yai, a smaller island due east of Phuket (see map).  While waiting at the pier to catch the ferry - which fit no more than 25 pasengers - we met Joanna.  Joanna is from Switzerland and had been traveling on her own in Thailand for over 4 months!  She was quite friendly and chatted with us during the boat ride.  We were also drawn together considering the four of us were the only foreigners on board.

We took a ferry from Jianwanich Pier on Phuket to Koh Yao Yai

Upon arrival at the pier on Koh Yao Yai we met a Czech couple who run a dive center on the island.  They were super friendly and gave us a free lift to a hotel they recommended.  There are only a few places to stay on the island, and we weren't going to splurge for an expensive resort.  The place where we stopped was a small family run operation with only a handful of bungalows.  The bungalow we booked was 1000 Baht (30 Baht = 1 USD), so split three ways we each paid just over 10 bucks.

Koh Yao Yai was nice and quiet for sure.  When we hiked to the beach near our bungalows, there wasn't another tourist in sight!  To be honest though, the beach wasn't that great.  The sand had natural debris and there were many rocks in the water.  Not to burst anyone's bubble, but pristine "untouched" beaches are few and far between.  Many of the beautiful ones you see on postcards or adverts are maintained and spruced up by resorts.

The beach isn't as nice as the pictures - but
on the plus side it isn't crowded either

This is a bit more like the real thing

There wasn't much to do nearby our bungalows, so the following day we rented scooters to check out the rest of the island.  Bobby, Chaz, and I each rented our own and Joanne rode with me.  Having rented a scooter twice before made me the most experienced driver of the three!  Joanne had actually owned a real motorcycle in Switzerland, but had resolved not to rent one in Thailand (since she had crashed her bike back home maybe that was the wise choice).

Even though she wouldn't rent one on her own Joanne was okay riding with me, an inexperienced scooter driver.  Perplexing as it was I agreed to drive her around.  The ride may have been bumpy along the way, but in the end things turned out fine.  Within 15 minutes we took a wrong turn (I guess I'll take credit for that one) and found ourselves going the opposite direction on a dirt road.  The ride itself was nerve-racking at times but definitely fun too.

The roads can get pretty tough to maneuver on a scooter

Luckily the Koh Yao Yai isn't big so a wrong turn doesn't set you back very far.  We eventually made our way to a pier on the north side of the island in hopes of catching a ferry to Koh Yao Noi, the sister island to the north.  The hotel owner had informed us that we could take our scooters across as well.  When we arrived at the pier the only boats there were longtails.  Longtail boats are by far the most common form of transport in Thailand, espically for short distances.

Okay, I thought, we will just have to wait for the ferry to arrive.  I asked one of the Thais hanging out at the pier (official employees? who knows) and he told me the longboat was the ferry, and in fact we could take our scooters on board.  Needless to stay I was skeptical.  But he assured me and they began loading our bikes on the old wooden boat.  We had to sit on the bikes the length of the journey (luckily no more than 10 minutes), lest they tip over and fall into the water!

Longtail boats are the most common form of water transport around the islands

Most longtail boats use old car or lawnmower engines!

That was definitely one of the most fun and unique boat trips I have taken.  On Koh Yao Noi we ate lunch and decided to hike.  On the northern tip of the island our map listed "The Big Tree."  What the heck we thought, let's check it out.  Along the way the road ended and we had to hike along a dirt path.  What we thought would be a quick trek turned into a long search in the humid jungle.  We asked several locals but most didn't speak any English and didn't seem to understand what exactly we were looking for.  Well, we thought, if they don't even know about it then the tree can't be all that special!  After sweating it out for close to an hour we resolved to give up and turn back.  We may as well have pointed to any of the trees along the path - look we found the big tree!  Great, now let's get back to the scooters.

Never found it!

After a full day of riding we stopped at the resort near our bungalows to chill and take a dip in the ocean.  The beach was nicer there, but still not great.  Aside from riding scooters or hiking, Koh Yao Yai and Noi didn't seem to have much to offer.  It was a nice break for two nights, but we were ready to move on.  We wanted to go to another island named Koh Phi Phi (if you haven't guessed yet Koh means island, also spelled Kho or Ko), but there were no direct boats.  The best route was first back to Phuket, then to Phi Phi.

At the last minute our hotel owner flagged us down - literally as we were walking onto the ferry - to tell us he found a private boat to Koh Phi Phi.  Joanne was in too, so split 4 ways it was 750 Baht ($25) each.  When we added up a ferry to Phuket, one night there, taxi, and morning ferry to Phi Phi the former option was actually cheaper.  So we got our own longtail boat trip to Koh Phi Phi!